night of the comet

If you thought George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead said all there was to say about our consumer-obsessed society, you obviously missed Night of the Comet (1984), a likable and clever combination of I Am Legend and Valley Girl that pokes fun at the multiplex-in-a-mall culture. Of all the horror/action/comedy hybrids that popped up during the ‘80s, this one is likely the smartest and most enjoyable of them all.

Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart, The Last Starfighter) and Samantha (Kelli Maroney, Chopping Mall) appear to be the only survivors of a comet-induced apocalypse that has reduced the rest of the population to piles of red dust. Those that escaped immediate death, however, are slowly zombified into dehydrated monsters, including a group of scientists holed up in an underground lab who want the two girls for testing. But Reggie and Sam are more interested in the same things they were interested in before the apocalypse: namely gossip, shopping and boys.

Any synopsis makes Night of the Comet sound like a one-joke film. Rest assured, it’s not. Although it includes a requisite number of jump scares, shoot-outs and sight gags, the script by writer/director Thom Eberhardt is surprisingly insightful and creates believable characters out of an unbelievable situation. Stewart and Maroney never push their valley girl naïveté too far; underneath that sibling rivalry is a set of badass survival skills that is a welcome change for females in the sci-fi genre.

Even on a low budget, the film manages to get some staggering shots of empty downtown LA streets (shot with traffic simply held by stoplights) that create a convincing illusion of the end of the world. Although not really zombies by definition, the dehydrated walking dead are a good gimmick to move the story forward, particularly a territorial gang who get upset when Reggie and Samantha go on an impromptu shopping – and shooting - spree. Night of the Comet jumps nimbly from guns to girl-talk at the most unexpected of times. Any and all indictments of Reagan-era mass consumption don’t distract from the movie’s main objective: like Cyndi says, these girls just wanna have fun.

Scream Factory’s blu-ray / DVD combo pack is a Comet fan’s dream come true, reuniting stars Stewart and Maroney for one of three separate audio commentary tracks (director Thom Eberhardt and production designer John Muto carry the other two) along with three featurettes which include on-camera interviews from the actors and make-up effects technicians. That, plus a theatrical trailer and an attractive reversible cover art make this another winner for the folks at Scream Factory.